Bob Fletcher foe left files detailing his struggle for justice

At some point, Ruettimann and Hereaux clasped one another brusquely around the shoulders. Ruettimann had to shout to be heard above the din: "We got the devil out!"

RUETTIMANN WAS ON A leisurely stroll for cigarettes along the picturesque coast of Manasota Beach, Florida, when the calls started.

Mark Andresen

David Puente

Dan Ruettimann (left) on the campaign trail with Matt Bostrom.

He was supposed to be relaxing with Deters now that the election was over, but the cell phone torpedoed any sense of tranquility. Ruettimann learned from frantic friends on the other end of the line that his face had been all over the evening news.

"Did Former Sheriff Bob Fletcher demote an officer because he was supporting his opponent?" asked Fox 9 reporter Tom Lyden in the teaser. "Or is the new Sheriff Matt Bostrom giving the deputy a second chance he doesn't deserve?"

The report included fuzzy Polaroids of Ruettimann's ex-wife's bruised neck and close-ups of Ruettimann from the campaign trail with Bostrom. And finally, a quote from now-former Sheriff Bob Fletcher: "A person with anger issues and a history of violence against women should never be allowed to carry a gun and badge."

The news report was just the latest in a string of incidents that convinced Ruettimann that Fletcher was targeting him for revenge.

In February 2010, Ruettimann was punished through an Internal Affairs investigation for failing to manually check a door at a Holiday Station that had been burglarized. The two-day suspension took place six months after the actual incident.

Then there was the domestic violence accusation.

On an early June evening, Ruettimann was watching the twins for his ex-wife at the home they had once shared in New Brighton. When she arrived home, the former couple began arguing. As he turned to leave, Ruettimann yelled something that would ultimately ruin his career.

"I'm going to fucking kill your father tonight," Ruettimann said, then made a throat-slitting motion before driving off, according to the police report.

Hours later, Ruettimann heard from his supervisor at work. His ex-wife had called the New Brighton police to report the threats. Now they were contacting her father, and Ruettimann's sister, to find out what happened.

A few days later, Ruettimann was served with a restraining order. His ex-wife claimed there had been an incident in 2006 when Ruettimann tried to strangle her. In the paperwork, she wrote that she'd never pressed charges because she was afraid for Ruettimann's job.

"I regret this decision," she wrote.

Later that month, Ruettimann, his attorney, and Deters arrived at the Ramsey County Courthouse. While Deters waited in the hallway, Ruettimann went into one room with his lawyer. His ex-wife was down the hallway in another room with her parents.

For over two hours, Ruettimann's lawyer ran messages between the two rooms, trying to negotiate a way to have the restraining order dismissed. Finally, Ruettimann's ex-wife agreed to drop it under a few conditions. She would have the order dismissed only if he agreed to drop "Ruettimann" from the hyphenated surname their children took after the divorce. He would also have to forfeit his parenting time.

Ruettimann reluctantly agreed, then called Deters into the room and fell to pieces.

"He was a mess," she recalls.

A month after that, two different jurisdictions declined to charge Ruettimann over the incident.

But while that may have been the end of the episode for the family, the wheels were just beginning to turn at the sheriff's department.

The day after the incident, Ruettimann received a letter from Chief Deputy Dave Metusalem, yanking him from patrol, confiscating his gun, and reassigning him to jail detail. A new Internal Affairs investigation was opened, this time for Conduct Unbecoming a Peace Officer.

Ruettimann's request that the investigation be handled by another department to avoid a conflict of interest was ignored. In his first interview with the Internal Affairs investigator, Ruettimann stumbled as he tried to recount what happened that night at his ex-wife's house. At one point, he told the investigator he'd yelled, "I wish your dad would drop dead." Later, he told the investigator he'd said, "I wish I could shoot your dad."

The investigator continued to push, asking him why he kept changing his story.

"I lied," Ruettimann blurted. "I lied."

The investigator also asked him about a 2006 incident when Ruettimann and his ex-wife were still married but heading for divorce. He threw her cell phone in the lake behind their house and police were notified.

But now the Internal Affairs investigator had something new to add: photos of his ex-wife's bruised neck. Strangulation had never been mentioned in the original police report, and Ruettimann was never charged with anything. But now these photos were part of the investigation.

"I have never seen these before," Ruettimann said.

Months rolled by without a decision. Ruettimann worked listlessly in the jails, and campaigned hard for Bostrom. Convinced his Internal Affairs woes were the result of retribution by the Fletcher administration, the election suddenly took on a whole new meaning.

"My only hope," he told his friends, "is that Fletcher is defeated."

ON DECEMBER 23, 2010, six months after the initial incident and just days before Fletcher was set to leave office, Ruettimann was called into a meeting to discuss the outcome of his Internal Affairs investigation. He was being demoted to correctional officer.

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Oh yeah? Sheriff Matt Bostrom is not vindictive huh or political ? Why don't you try and explain it to these two young deputies whose careers he's ruined now because our new and better Sheriff "Bostrom" decided to bring politics into office! I'm not saying Fletcher was a saint, but these two kids didn't deserve this, thats all!!! Retired Deputy 2440

Sheriff Matt Bostrom does not compromise his ethics, integrity, and sense of fairness to become vindictive, condemning and controlling. Unlike Bob Fletcher.

Please share a time when Bostrom has gone out of his way to condemn or destroy any of his many employees over the year. How about community members? How many stories can you bring to light where people would say that they could not speak candidly to Bostrom because they feared retaliation at a later time?

Dan was absolutely right when he choose to campaign for Bostrom. He told me "He is a good man, well educated with morals and integrity." Has anyone ever heard Bob Fletcher described that way? No, he is evil, vindictive, lying, manipulating who gets off on destroying people...

the files are not confidental files... they are public info, he passed on the file to the reporter for a reason... he wanted his story to be heard!... if the files were confindental then why did the ones on the deputy get to the press??????

Wow. For a minute I thought I had accidentally visited the National Enquirer website. When did the City Pages turn in to a tabloid? The man took his life and obviously had some mental illness that included paranoia. I doubt anyone from the general public knew that before this article was published. I can't understand why somone would publish this stuff. It puts the deputy in a bad light, for taking confidential records from a government agency. And his friend, who has been described as a reserve deputy, distributed them without authorization from the County. Let the man rest in peace instead of opening his death up to gossip and petty arguing and mud slinging by the readers. One really has to wonder why the current sheriff allowed his political supporter to provide the file for publication. After reading this article, it seems the deputy who killed himself felt betrayed by the current sheriff, too, and the whole story leaves me believing that the new sheriff has widened the divide between department personnel. Publishing this story is in very poor taste. If the author wanted to write about the deceased deputy, it seems she could have written a story about him, as a person, and some of his life time accomplishments, instead of focusing on the turmoil in his life and career. I'm just sayin'.

As a former Deputy for Ramsey County many many years ago....and having age and a modicum of wisdom, I would respectfully point out that every Sheriff (remember Kermit Hedman?) was a bad guy....(or their Chief Deputies)They are all demonized by Deputies who feel somehow that they are victims of authority...and usually poorly used authority at least from the Deputies points of view.

I was transferred out of the Patrol Division to the Jail because I filed a grievance over a vacation I was "ordered" to take....I won the battle and lost the war ulitmately leaving the department for another career...The Union was worthless and I accepted my new role along with another Deputy who was considered a trouble maker by the authority figures and we worked together in the jail division before I decided I'd had enough...I just decided life was too short..My friend retired from the department..We both spent hours of wasted time demonizing the "brass"....

Back in those days, there were two kinds of deputies... the ones that sucked up to the hierarchy and those that undermined and rebelled against them.... I unfortunately (for me) was in the second group..

It sounds like this young man that killed himself too was an angry young guy who got caught up in politics. Truth is, it wouldn't matter who the Sheriff was or is....he has to make decisions he (or she) feels is in the best interests of the department... which means either the suckups will be angry or the rebellious victimized deputes will.... whats the difference...makes a good story..but thats really all it is..This is nothing more than a forum for letting off steam.....abuse of power????.. It's just politics....and a reality of life....

Im not law enforcement but as Dan & Jimmys friend, I witnessed this situation. Its true. Thank You Jesse it means alot. I liked the pics of Dan too. I know he would have liked the cartoons as well. The whole situation is so sick. The abuse of power, the way the Sheriff uses my tax money to accomplish their narcissitic goals. They wont get in trouble either, watch and see. Thick as thieves those guys!!!Gotta another joke for ya, How do ya get 6 yep 6 Ramsey County deputys to show up at your home during a crime? Call em & Tell em you stole a camapign sign!!

Bostrom and his co-chair former St. Paul Police Chief Harrington should get familiar with the word hypocrisy. Every constituent should think twice about supporting Bostrom for Sheriff. He is a weak leader in my opinion! Bostrom & Harrington have persistently advertised about how great there “hiring practices” are! Every constituent should know that Bostrom’s campaign has continuously flaunted the terms “character based” hiring practices and “ethical leadership” throughout their campaign literature and rhetoric.

As a citizen I find It quite disturbing how Bostrom and Harrington can call their hiring practices “character based” when they’ve have 7 of their own Officer’s from their department criminally arrested within the last year.[I prefer not to mention the names of the Officer’s arrested out of respect on this form, but I encourage everyone to do the research]

It seems only logical if you have 7 Officer’s arrested within the last year, there is something clearly wrong and your so called “character based” hiring practices are broken or definitely not working! I would have to say that this stems from mismanagement and poor hiring practices maybe low morale! Basically this goes completely against everything Bostrom and Harrington claim to be and what they promote!

I read this story last night and I have to say that it literally made me sick to my stomach. The fact that none of your commentors can figure out that the treatment he was getting at work is what fueled all of this, is beyond me! He WASN'T crazy, he was made crazy by his boss!

How much crap and humiliation is a person supposed to take before they finally go off the deep end? The demotions, the whispers, the rumors spread, intimidation, etc. There does come a point when you can no longer take it. If you've never experienced this kind of treatment at work, you have NO IDEA what's it's like!! It is a LIVING HELL and no one should have to endure it!!! Trust me, I know!!!

Reading this was like deja-vu, because I went through roughly the same thing with my husband and his work. He worked his ass off for them, did everything they wanted him to do and more, but because he wouldn't KISS ASS to get ahead and voiced his opinion, he was treated like garbage!! Thankfully he didn't take his life, but why in the hell does it have to get to the point where you feel that it's the only way out?

I feel for this poor man. I'm so sorry that the job that he obviously loved, was used to ruin him. Who are you people here to pass judgement on him?! No where in the article say he was EVER a wife abuser!! Even if it were true, it had no business being brought up years later just to use as ammo to humiliate and ruin his reputation. He had been a Fletcher supporter, but when he realized what the man was really like and voiced his opinion, he was treated like this!!

And you who are so "pro-Fletcher", it's on the record that he was an asshole and if you didn't kiss his ass, you'd be demoted!! The department was SUED for it, for christ's sake!! I'd really like to know why, since he showed he was capable of treating his underlings like that, was there not a more in depth investigation into him?! Talk about someone who should not be allowed to inforce the law or carry a gun!! It's police like Fletcher that give the whole force a bad name!

Shame on all of you that were aware of what was happening and did nothing. I praise this man because he had enough balls to stand up and say something when he thought what was going on wasn't right. He tried to help make a change for the benefit of all of you. I hope you feel real proud of yourselves, knowing you helped to destroy someone else.

Thank god more people don't work in conditions like this, or I'm afraid we'd be seeing stories like this every day...........

If you want to know anything about Bob Fletcher look at his son. A pot dealer, an alcoholic, drove drunk frequently, crashed his car recently because of it. I like how no one knows this. It's pathetic.

This man had some serious issues, he actually thought the former sheriff was "going to kill him".... the article states the second agency agreed with the former sheriff s action, sounds like the new sheriff gave this man false hopes and eventually turned their back on him, someone should have stepped in and helped.......with what was in the articles I will agree that he should not have been able to carry a badge or a gun. Over time we have lost our sense of personal responsibility, it would be nice to read the internal affairs file.......why wasnt the new Sheriff interviewed......it appears with almost a year under new leadership we still have not heard one word from the new administration.....on anything...reading the comments makes you wonder if everyone was reading the same article as I read!

Interesting how his stormy relationship with his first wife was largely glossed over by the SPPD back before Fletcher's people found out he was working for Bostrom, Particularly considering the taste for vicious revenge this article documents on the part of Fletcher and his minions.

so this guy is brought up on charges of conduct unbecoming an Officer, the former Sheriff Fletcher takes his gun and badge away, he gets angry............meanwhile hes been campaigning for Bostrom in hopes he'll recieve special treatment for all his hard work on the campaign trail.... Bostrom then gives this guy a second chance, his deputy job back along with his badge and gun....... hes still not happy with his assignment... he then takes his own life......

Okay Fletcher ~ you and all of your FOB's (friends on Bob) can stop right now. Dan has a family who has already experienced a very traumatic loss, including 2 children who will some day read this. You have done enough damage to us. I hope you are satisfied but stop using Dan as a political tool to bash Bostrom. You are a evil, vindictive man who is power hungry and needs to be in control. STOP THIS NOW!

This man was a angry, disturbed and paranoid person. Any cop who is a wife abuser should be removed from their position. Your artical infers that former Sheriff Fletcher was out to get him. From my reading he was his own worse enemy.

It would be interesting to hear Bostrom's take on this? And I'm quite shocked none of this was mentioned beofore, I recall reading about the other disciplined deputies Briebarth and Clemen, its seems like Bostrom kept this pretty tight lipped and quiet until now! It apparant this invividual was truly unstable and disturbed, its a shame nobody recgnoized the warning signs including Bostrom who gave him his service weapon back....... It sounds like Bostrom gave him false hope

whats more distrubing is reading pieces from the police report, its an eerie resemblance of what my mother-in-law went through

"I'm going to fucking kill your father tonight," Ruettimann said, then made a throat-slitting motion before driving off, according to the police report.

come on~ Fletcher made them cops 2 weeks before he left office as a favor for them kissing his ass so bad during his campaign. You obviously don't know what is in the background checks done on the 2 employee's~ like none of us do.. Fletcher should not have hired anyone 2 weeks before he was to leave office. He is just a pathetic son of a bitch!

Sorry "just the facts" but your logical reasoning here is seriouly flawed! You are basing your entire premise on that everything including information/documents the deceased deupty gave to 'Jimmy'...... who then gave them to a blogger/city pages reporter as "true" and "correct". These documents have yet to be disputed by anyone! Now lets get to the facts

FACT Dan Ruettimann worked on Matt Bostrom's campaign

FACT Dan Ruettimann had his service weapon & deputy badge taken away by former Sheriff Bob Fletcher

FACT Dan Ruettimann was involved with a domestic dispute with his ex-wife more than once.

FACT Dan Ruettimann was reinstated by Matt Bostrom and was given his service weapon and deputy Sheriff badge back

FACT Dan Ruettimann unfortunately ended his life with his service weapon Bostrom gave back to him

you have a point every job has a politic side to it, even more so when you are in a job like a sheriff... but bullying and kicking someone when they are down over and over again... to me just shows how taking your power way to far!!! And when you use to much power it all blows a fuse!

Yeah isn't that something? Talk about a waste of tax payers dollars! I assume you are referring to our current Sheriff Matt Bostrom... didnt he have the FBI or something investigate his campaign signs? I agree with you complete abuse of power by our Sheriff

Nice try Fletcher or one of your FOB's.. This is so like you to shift the story away from yourself. Mismanagement and poor hiring practices? If what you are saying is true then he is just getting rid of the trash that you hired and manipulated all of these years. From what I read at the end of last year, you made sure Bostrom didn't have an opportunity to hire anyone because you filled all open spots with your FOB's....Pathetic!

FACT Dan Ruettimann worked on Fletchers campaign in 2006 when the first call to the police was made by his wife, while going through a divorce.

FACT New Brighton police did not see any marks on her neck

FACT Sheriff Fletcher was aware of the call to police and did nothing about it (because Dan was campaigning for him)

FACT Dan Ruettimann's ex wife called the police because he made a comment in a argument between the two about her father, hardly a domestic abuse case. He didn't threaten his ex at all or her father directly.

FACT Dan Ruettimann was going to start having full weekend visits starting 2 weeks after this incident and his controlling ex wife didn't want that to happen because then she would lose control over her kids.

When I read these comments it would seem that even after the former Sheriff has been out of office he is still being held responsible for issues the new administration should be addressing....unless I have missed something....why hasn't the new Sheriff been interviewed and asked these questions...I also believe that when the leader of an organization with over 600 employees under their control,they will always have a percentage of unhappy individuals....wasnt the individual that committed suicide one of these that the former Sheriff had disciplined at the end of 2010 because of the "facts" from a police report that he stated he was going to kill his exwifes father...looking in from the outside it would appear that the former Sheriff was aware of this individuals issues and removed him...that is something we should all agree on as being a good thing. I also read the article in regards to the former Sheriff getting into an argument with his exwife as she was drinking, the police said she was drinking and smelled like alcohol, had red eyes.....he wasnt allowing her to drive.....While some of the comments I believe made this into something more than it was......I would like to hear what the current administration has to say about these issues........more than likely we all will never know.....

Did you even bother to read the article? I suspect NOT! I have no use for abusers, but there is no where in the story that said he was tried or CONVICTED of anything!! And like I said in my letter, even if he was, it had happened a very long time ago and it was only used to smear and humiliate him YEARS later.

People like you give me a pain in my ass. Next time, why don't you actually READ what you're supposedly spouting off about. Then someone might actually take what you say seriously.

STOP! You are so cruel.... Like I said earlier, we are grieving and someday his children will read this. Is it necessary to say things like that? I hope you are proud of yourself! Please ~ just quit. Enough is Enough!

Thanks. I've never replied to any other article I've read, but this one just struck something in me and I couldn't shake it. I could not just sit here and be sickened by it and say nothing....again.

I cried when when I finished that article and I cried when I wrote the above. There needs to be more people in this world like this deputy who are willing to stand up for what they believe in and not just "go with it" cause it's popular or what everybody else is doing. There also needs to be more people like his friends who stuck with him when it would've been so much easier to just walk away. I would've liked to have met this man. I know I would've have been very proud to call him a friend.

His family and friends have my deepest and very heart felt sympathies. I hope he found the peace he was looking for....

Oh, and you know the truth because why, you where there?! I think not.

Like I said, try reading the article smartass. And BTW, who are YOU to judge other people?! As far as I know, NO ONE died and made you GOD! Get off your damn high horse. People who live in glass houses.....